The Hertling photo journal.

Vegas!

2010-01-26T23:17:00.003-07:00

Right after we got back from Finland, we had another wedding to attend: Jason's sister got married in Las Vegas on the 15th. We had so fun hanging out with the family, and seeing Vegas for the first time (well, Jason had been there before). Luckily it was a short drive, and we made it back before the big storm hit.

Laura's Wedding

2010-01-20T12:53:00.002-07:00

It has been some time since last updates. We did travel to Finland in December to attend Laura's Wedding, and to have a wonderful snowy Christmas! More pictures from the trip http://www.lukastriptofinland.blogspot.com/

Wild weather...

2010-01-19T21:38:00.002-07:00

A big series of stroms have been pummeling Southern California this week. Water almost got inside our house too. Never seen anything like this: In one hour yesterday we got 2,9 inches (6 cm) of water - that is how much water we usually get in all of January! The biggest storm will arrive tomorrow.

Luka scores!

2009-11-03T12:10:00.001-07:00

Getting ready for Halloween

2009-10-14T12:04:00.001-06:00

Pumpkin patch last weekend. Fun!

Start of School

2009-09-12T07:07:00.003-06:00

Big changes... Luka is in Kindergarten now, so our family's school career has officially started. We were lucky to have Luka accepted in a new local Magnet school focusing on technology and science. After one week, we're all very happy. Luka is making new friends, although the leap from being the oldest kid in Preschool to youngest in elementary has been tiring. Luckily the class size 20/1 is small, and his teacher is really nice. Ella continues at Harbor Trinity.

We also visited Colorado for a week before school started. It was nice to see all the friends, and be reminded what a beautiful state Colorado is...

Swim lessons

2009-08-07T23:21:00.006-06:00

Luka does a silly jump and swims on his own for a few feet.

Both Ella and Luka have attended swim classes for the past couple of weeks. Luka is so close to swimming. Ella is getting used to being in the water. She will cry though if you say the word "dunk".

Lunchbag in hand she is walking...

2009-07-10T13:01:00.001-06:00

Ella started Preschool

on Monday...time flies.

Graduation

2009-06-30T16:45:00.001-06:00

Our baby graduates from Preschool...off to the Kindergarten now!

I am home

2009-06-15T00:36:00.002-06:00

Pappa assembled a nice playhouse for Luka & Ella. Oranges are delivered right to the front door by an automated process.

DIY project

2009-05-25T12:50:00.002-06:00

I have been working on creating a play area for the kids in the back alley - we have a patio door leading right to it from the living room, so it's perfect. Some decking from Ikea, succulent plants make for a new outdoor space for the kids! The coolest thing - the kitchen made toatlly from the scratch by Jason and I! Looks real, eh - materials: Wood crates, plywood, carbinet pulls, dog bowl for the stainless steel sink, real fosset ($9 Home Depot), linoleum for "granite counters, some plastic drain parts for the "gas range", blue and platinum spray paint.

Daddy's girl

2009-05-24T09:37:00.002-06:00

Backyard Beauties

2009-04-14T20:39:00.003-06:00

My favorite Southern California flower is the Bird of Paradise - they are all over - in our backyard too! The wondeful smell of the orange blossoms lingered in the air for weeks in February! We have enjoyed freshly squeezed orange juice too.

Soccer Boy

2009-04-14T20:37:00.000-06:00

It's our first season in the soccer league - Jason is coaching! FUN!

Easter Egg Hunt

2009-04-14T20:33:00.001-06:00

Tigger returns

2009-02-10T21:17:00.003-07:00

Tigger has been a long time friend of Luka's. Luka was 2 days old when a family friend in St Louis gave Tigger as a gift, and from about 18 months of age Tigger and Luka have been inseparable. Through the years Tigger gained a personality, he was often "the misbehaving one" that Luka had to reprimand. But most times Tigger was just a cheerful friend who accompanied Luka everywhere. Then, tragically, he was left behind past summer on Finnair flight to New York. Luka was sad, but figured that Tigger was just traveling the world. Then a while ago Luka asked if Tigger would come home if Finnair ever retired MD11 planes, I gave in, and...thanks to EBay...Tigger is with us again!

winter in summerland

2009-01-07T22:12:00.004-07:00

There is something very unique about the Coastal California OC winter - it is different from the summer for sure...the tourists are away, it's just locals, it's peaceful. Sure it gets cold at the beach at night, but the ocean is still beautiful, the sand is soft - the surfers might even take time to talk to you...and there are no lines to get into Ruby's at the pier to enjoy the best milkshake in town. Winter is good.

San Francisco

2009-01-03T08:12:00.002-07:00

We took a short weekend trip to San Francisco after Christmas. We loved it.

Ella does everything just like Luka

2008-12-04T10:59:00.003-07:00

Luka really loves drawing and writing right now...so what does the little sis do: She picks up a piece of paper, a marker, and creates...art! On her vocabulary: She can say "dada", "aiti", "uh'oh", "maito", and "nena".

Big Weekend

2008-11-29T21:10:00.003-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

We've had a great week/weekend enjoying the time off, and great company of good friends. Big events this weekend were: 1. Luka ran his first real race (1 mile) 2. Ella learned to use a marker to draw a "picture" 3. Ella took her first steps.

Halloween updates

2008-11-02T15:10:00.003-07:00

We had some more visitors from Denver, Kaija and Anna celebrated Halloween with us, and what fun we had. We enjoyed Disneyland (we're season pass holders now : At $134 it's a great bargain for So Cal residents), and trick or treating in one of O.C. neighborhoods, which was just a fantastic: A complete block party with amazingly decorated homes, and about 1000 kids (not kidding) going around.

Pumpkin patch

2008-10-20T21:44:00.004-06:00

We're starting to find our way around the area, and found this nice park in Irivine with lot of fall season activities. Luka rode a pony, got spooked at the haunted house, and got lost (really) in a corn maze. Good times - we're still enjoying 70 - 80s weather during days with nights getting cooler, nice!

Trendy Ella

2008-09-28T10:43:00.002-06:00

Ella is keeping up with the Hollywood trends..and of course LOVES the

yogurt. So, this is not the usual frozen yogurt that really tastes like ice cream. This yogurt has the consistency of ice cream, but tastes more like vanilla yogurt. Jason didn't care for it, which was nice for Ella & Riikka.

Big Shoes to fill

2008-09-28T10:37:00.002-06:00

On our way back we did the ultimate touristy thing, and walked the walk of fame along with a million other tourists. Ok. Now that we've done it, we can concentrate on doing more interesting things around L.A. / California.

Beautiful view outside the Reagan Library

2008-09-28T10:33:00.003-06:00

This part of greater L.A. is so different from our Costa Mesa/Huntington beach corners. Th landscape is hilly, which is a nice sight for a change, and reminded us a little bit of our beloved Colorado that we left behind.